Government officials and academics from seventeen countries in Africa will take part in an UNCTAD training course on the use of multidisciplinary approaches to trade and development issues, to be held in Cairo, Egypt. The course on "Key Issues on the International Economic Agenda", to be held from 4 to 22 February 2007, is being organized jointly by UNCTAD, UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa), and the Institute for Diplomatic Studies, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Cairo, which is hosting the event with Government support.
The linkages between trade, investment and development; their implications for integrated development strategies; and national experiences with trade and development policies for countries in the region will be explored. The course syllabus has been designed to draw on UNCTAD´s expertise in trade and development policies, financial flows and macroeconomic management, investment and technology, trade facilitation measures and e-commerce and development. The 27 participants will learn about the analytical and research work of UNCTAD, UNECA, the Egyptian Information Technology Industry Development Agency, the General Authority for Investment in Cairo, and the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
The course is part of a series mandated by the Bangkok Plan of Action adopted at UNCTAD X in February 2000 and reaffirmed in the São Paulo Consensus adopted at UNCTAD XI this past June. At UNCTAD X, UNCTAD was requested to strengthen the understanding of decision makers from developing countries of key development issues on the international economic agenda within UNCTAD´s fields of competence. This month´s Cairo course is the second for the African region.
